Aloha Friday Message – October 6, 2023 – Fruit of the Branches

October 6, 2023

2340AFC100623 – Fruit of the Branches

I apologize for this being so long. Much has happened in the past week that requires prayerful attention and proclamation of the Word.

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

  Matthew 21:43 – 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.   

   Isaiah 5:7 –
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!

Psalm 80:8 –
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. The readings for this weekend – the 27th week in Ordinary Time – are about vineyards, grapevines, grapes, and vinedressers (sort of). Before we jump into what the Holy Spirit has for us today, I want to share something he suggested as an opener:

John 15:4-9 – 4 Abide* in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become] my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

* μένω (meno) {men’-o} – abide, remain, dwell, continue, tarry, endure; to remain, abide in reference to place, to sojourn, to tarry, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept continually; to continue to be, not to perish, to last, to endure; of persons: to survive, live, to remain as one, not to become another or different, to wait for someone In the Old Testament it is יָשַׁב (yashab) {yaw-shab’} – to sit, remain, dwell; abide, live, stay tarry, connect.

That’s a lot of stuff up there, so I should just get on with it. For the topic at hand, we begin with a riddle: Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back? (Come on, you know this one.) A STICK! Now, what do you call a branch cut off from the tree? You want to say “a stick,” but that’s not correct. A branch cut off of the tree is kindling. Matthew 7:19 – 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. In either case, whatever is cut away ends up getting burned. I see you’ve figured out where we’re going with this, so “Per spem ad astra!” – Through hope to the stars (Or perhaps Per ardua ad astra! Through struggle to the stars.) Here we go!

Suppose I know that you really love grapes. I decide I want to give you a memorable present, so I go to a vineyard being pruned and gather up a few of the pruned branches, and wrap them in a pretty velvet bow as a friendship present to you. “Not much of a present,” you say. “What am I supposed to do with these? They’re already wilting.” You get the idea. You do not define your life, or anyone else’s, by the fruit that can’t be grown on pruned branches. Like the artist who discards everything he does not need in a chunk of marble so that only the figure remains, the branches that are pruned are discarded because they allow the true purpose of the vine to become manifest. The vine bears more fruit after it is pruned.

In the passages above, we see the Lord God is addressing Israel, the vineyard he transplanted from Egypt. We’ve spoken many times here about a type or figure. Egypt is the type for captivity in sin. God released Israel from their bondage in Egypt. God’s Son was called forth from Egypt after Joseph and Mary took him there when Herod wiped out the babies in Bethlehem. God is telling Israel through his servant and Prophet, Isaiah, that he rescued the chosen, fruitful vines of Israel and transplanted them after he cleared the land of the vineyard from all the weeds, junk, and corruption there. After treating them so carefully, they “went wild” on him and did not live up to the promise of rich fruit that was expected. There are really strong lessons for us in this collection of readings for Sunday. We can start with Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew. They directly echo God’s words through Isaiah: Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

This Gospel quote comes from the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. A landowner planted a vineyard and leased it out. The tenants did not pay him his share of the crops. He twice sent emissaries to ask for their cooperation, but they abused his messengers and even killed one. At last he sent his son, believing that they would surely not harm him. Instead they plotted against him and killed his son as well. We can see plainly enough with our 2023 hindsight that this is about Israel and Jesus, the Son of the Landowner. At the end of the parable, the people who heard it passed judgments on those evil tenants: They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” We can easily understand “God is due what (and who) belongs to him.” And we also understand that if we refuse to Repent and Believe the Gospel, we will be among the kindling.

In the “Song of the Vineyard” in Isaiah, God wanted Israel (and ultimately Believers) to abide in him, to be fruitful in and for and through him. Instead they bore wild, practically unusable fruit. One can make wine from wild grapes, but it is sour-tasting beyond the flavor of common “dry wines.” We can imagine a community of “wild men,” but it would be a community of adversity. Even wild grapes can be pruned and cultivated, but the “wildness” doesn’t really depart from them. Good vines should produce good wines, but sometimes vines go haywire and lose their goodness. The same things happen to people, right? But suppose we have good vines, an expert vine dresser, knowledgeable vineyard workers, and all the right equipment to gather and process the fruit. What then?

The good fruit is harvested only from the good branches of the good vines, and the good branches only produce good fruit if they are part of the good vines. It’s time to stop beating around the bush (or rather vines) and get to the point: Am I, are you, are we among the branches pruned away? Is our spiritual life wilting and drying up because we’re no longer connected to the Vine? “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” Most of us who are reading this are abiding in him. Someone who is not abiding in him is probably in one of two categories: Either they have been pruned away, or they have not been branches of the True Vine.

Consider this from Matthew 7:15-16 – 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? Another translation puts it like this: Matthew 7:16 (ICB) – 16 You will know these people because of the things they do. Good things don’t come from bad people, just as grapes don’t come from thornbushes. And figs don’t come from thorny weeds. [1] In this example, Jesus is talking about false prophets, but doesn’t it seem possible it could also be referring to false believers or even unbelievers? “Oh, but we can’t call them ‘bad people.’ That’s prejudicial. We might damage their self-esteem!” If Jesus also described them as looking like sheep but underneath being ravenous wolves, that sounds like ‘bad people’ to me. Is it really possible that there are some people who cannot bear the Fruit of the True Vine even though they look like every other thing/person in the vineyard? You already know the answer to that. Would it surprise us to be able to actually see that? If we look, listen, and ponder, we will understand – we cannot bless what is wicked any more than we can eat thorns and call them figs. Such condonation leads to death for both the sinner and the condoner. Remember Phineas and Hophni whose allegiance was to Satan, not God. Their father, the priest Eli did chide them but did not condemn them. As a result the two sinful men died and later Eli died (see 1 Samuel 4:11-18). If any of us are unfamiliar with this account we should study it carefully. There is a faction in the Church that seeks to condone what is clearly evil and prohibited in Scripture, Tradition, and Church Teaching. A list of some of those things is found in the passage above from Galatians 5:19-23. I also offer this for more insight: Romans 1:26-32 – 26 For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29 They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die — yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. Whenever any of these is condoned, when any of these are absolved without repentance, THE SINNER AND THE CONDONER WILL DIE FOREVER. YOLO-F! Belovéd, pay attention to what is happening in the Synod on Synodality and watch carefully as questions and answers are published!

No fruit will come from a vine or a tree or grass or wheat or any green growing thing unless it has its roots in a nourishing environment. Belovéd, where are your roots? I hope by now you know where mine are – they are in the Word, not the World. I make it a point throughout every day that I must be in the Vine. Those who know me best know that in addition to being in the vine daily, I also need (and often receive) a severe and well-deserved pruning as well. Let’s grab another branch from these roots. Here we go with another flashback:

1518AFC050115 – Fruit to Root You can sort of make a climbing rose look like a grape vine by tying clusters of grapes to it. You can make a cactus look like it is bearing figs by sticking them to the thorns. Would that really fool anyone? Yet sometimes we try to do that with our lives; we try to make them appear as though we are yielding spiritual fruits by showing the outward signs of them. Do those signs last? If they don’t start at the root, then of course they don’t last! The same is true of false prophets. They drape themselves with the supposed fruits of their prophecy, but everything they produce smells of decay and ruin. They reek of the fruits of the flesh as found in Galatians 5:19-23 – 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy [and murder] drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (my emphasis added) 22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

In this time of upheaval we could also add terror, murder, blasphemy, deceit, persecutions, violence, evil appetites, abortion, addictions, slander, libel, calumny, and many, many other similar evil things. When people produce this kind of fruit, it is because of where their roots are growing. It grows from a bad tree and produces only bad fruit. When that fruit is fed to others, it takes root in them as well – we are what we eat. If, then, Christ is in us, then the fruit we bear will be good fruit if we remain in HIM. Will parts of our lives be like a slightly-fruitful vine that is pruned away to make better growth? Will we remain true to our roots? Will we produce the fruits to feed others? When such as these look at us, what might they find? Will they see a True Branch of the True Vine?

A condensed version of a story I heard from a Brother in 2011: A woman said, “I had a dream where I was in a line of people going into heaven. I looked across at the line of people going down into Hell. I saw the face of a friend. She looked over at me and said, “Why didn’t you tell me?” You know what, Beloved? There is a very good chance we are part of God’s intent to “fully supply all” that person’s (and even many others’) needs! What’s stopping us? Whatever it is, there is an eternal life-or-death decision we must make before it is too late. Let none of us be another stick in the … pile through condonation. Repent and Believe AND LIVE the Gospel! And what shall we do to live the Gospel?

Start with this: Philippians 4:8-9 – 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (↔ Music Link) 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. We can practice living by the GIGO rule – Gospel In, Gospel Out. And if we’re still unsure about how to stay connected with that True Vine, we have this from just up the page in Philippians 4:6-7 – 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. There’s an everlasting love (↔ Music Link) in that, Belovéd. I heard it through the grapevine (↔ Music Link – just for fun!), and maybe that’s another way to testify – just don’t gossip – EVANGELIZE! Maybe open a branch office?

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] International Children’s Bible (ICB) The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission from the Publisher

 

 

Aloha Friday Message – September 29, 2023 – DON’T FORGET NEMO

September 29, 2023

2339AFC092923 – DON’T FORGET NEMO

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Ezekiel 18:27-28 – 27 Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. 28 Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die.

Psalm 25:6-7 –
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.*
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Philippians 2:3-5 – 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus

Matthew 21:28-31 a – 28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. You remember these guys, right? Nemo and his dad, Marlin and mom, Coral? Coral and her eggs are destroyed near the beginning of the movie, but one egg apparently survives and grows up to become Nemo. We should begin by telling why this post title is so strange. What’s Nemo got to do with anything? Let’s start with his name.

Nemo is a Latin word meaning “nobody.” In Homer’s Odyssey, when Ulysses blinds the Cyclops, the Cyclops asks him: “Who are you?” Ulysses replies (in the Latin translation): “Nemo.” When the Cyclops was later asked by his father Neptune: “Who did this to you?” he answers “Nobody did it.” In Greek, the name Nemo is ανώνυμος → anonymous I or no one. another word with the name connotation is Κανένας ka-‘ne-nas → nobody, no one and in “not any person.” Another odd “co-inkidink” is that Nemo lives in an anemone as in a-NEMO-ne. Get it? So, the movie is about a fish named Nobody who gets lost trying gather knowledge and he gets caught by a human and hustled off to Sydney Australia. His dad teams up with a ditzy Pacific regal blue tang name Dory and together they eventually locate Nemo. In just about 100 minutes we go through all sorts of internal and external conflicts, experience loss and gain, grab a little comedy along the way, and end up dismissing the whole thing as just another kids fable. Why, then, are we going to think about Nemo as we get into this message? Good question, Camper!

Where does Nemo’s adventure happen? In an OCEAN. Where does our adventure of Life happen? In an OCEAN OF GRACE (↔ Click Link). You can follow that link and find some additional insights. The Express Stop Summary for that is this: It is the 9th installment in the Series on Virtue and Sin. There we recount how we can open our hearts to let in Jesus or a demon. We spoke of “Grace upon Grace,” and showed that does not mean Graces piled on top of each other, but rather Great Grace exchanged for Greater Grace. When the inner furnishings of our hearts are in good order and clean, there is no place for the demon to take a place there. To ensure our hearts are ready for Jesus we recall Colossians 1:19-20 – 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. Jesus is the Fullness of God’s Immeasurable Grace, so when we open the door of our hearts (remember last week?), we get the WHOLENESS OF God! We live out our lives in an ocean of Grace. You may recall a lovely story by Steve Brown at KeyLife Ministries about a fish who swam in a Great Ocean but was afraid he would fall into the Great Abyss. He chose to try to hold his tail in his mouth so he couldn’t fall, but he wasn’t flexible enough to catch it. He started having a panic attack because of this and then a BIG VOICE (it was The Ocean) said, “What are you doing?”

“Oh,” said the fish, “I’m terrified of falling into the deep dark abyss, and I’m trying to catch hold of my tail in my mouth to hold myself up.”

So the ocean said, “Well, you’ve been trying that for a long time now, and still you have not fallen down. How come?”

“Oh, of course, I haven’t fallen down yet,” said the fish, “because … Well, because I’m swimming!

“Well,” came the reply, “I am the Great Ocean where you swim, and I have given all of myself to you in which to swim, and I support you all the time you swim, but here you are, instead of exploring the length, breath, depth and height of my expanse, you have been wasting your time pursuing you own end.”

We might be tempted to think , “Silly fishy! Do what God created you to do.” Hmmm. Sounds like good advice for us, too, yes? The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its beginnings but not its end. The Grace of God is the Great Ocean of His Love. He is the source of the Ocean of Grace. When you acknowledge Him, it is as if you are submersed in a vast ocean being fed by a fountain of purest water. You are standing in that fountain in the center of the center of the Crystal Sea drinking from a crystal cup filled to overflowing with God’s Endless Grace and Love, and this is available to every human soul alive today in Heaven and on Earth who chooses to Live in the Grace of God .  This is “so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” ( See 1 Peter 4:7-11 And that’s the TRUTH!

Now, that Great Ocean of Grace is what we might recall is “Prevenient Grace.” It is the Grace of Hope. Godly Hope is the combination of desire (it’s what we want) and expectation – (we believe we will receive it). Prevenient Grace is Grace that’s given to all earthlings without any effort or contribution on their part; it’s like “standard equipment.” It means Salvation cannot be credited to believers’ enterprise because all they did was to accept what God had already provided – a Great Ocean of Grace. A fish gotta swim, and a sea’s the place for it. We can’t pay for the Great Ocean of Grace any more than we can pay for our own Salvation. Both of these are God’s Gifts, the Prevenient Gift of that Ocean of Grace is essentially irresistible if we are still alive. Salvation, on the other hand, is resistible which means that anyone can choose whatever is less than that. We must choose someone or something.

Everybody can choose a Life in Christ, but, not everyone will. We have an ocean of Grace surrounding and filling us. Oh! And now I know why I got up in the middle of the night a few years ago and wrote down this! “I have immersed my life in His Heart so that my heart can be entirely filled with Him.” Scroll up and look at that passage from Colossians. “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell …” As we’ve said, Jesus is the Fullness of God’s Immeasurable Grace, so when we open the door of our hearts, we get the WHOLENESS OF God! Therefore we are reconciled with him as part of “all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” Now that will change the interiors of our hearts by placing Grace upon Grace!

In the past when I read that phrase, I thought it meant one grace piled on another grace – like a wall made of bricks – a fortress of Grace built with succeeding layers of God’s gifts. Then I actually looked at the language behind that verse and discovered I had the wrong idea. The Greek word meaning “upon” is the preposition ἐπί (epi) {ep-ee’}, but this verse says in Greek χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος. John did not say χάριν ἐπὶ χάριτι; he said χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος. That word in bold letters, ἀντὶ, is another familiar preposition anti – (anti) {an-tee’}. That word means “instead of; for; in place of; corresponding to.”  What difference does that make, after all, if grace is given in exchange for grace rather than on top of grace? How about if it signifies Grace that serves is the Grace of God and that Grace is within us? All of us already have Prevenient Grace, so when we take in the Great Graces of God we experience Sanctifying Grace, Grace that makes our souls holy and makes us the Children of God. God Gifts us with additional Graces – called “actual” Graces – actual here meaning a Grace that enables us to act in cooperation with God’s redemptive actions. These are like little nudges, or hints, or stirring events with which God blesses us. We can sure then say, “Your Grace Is Sufficient For Me.” (↔ Music Link)

Perhaps we could think of them as gentle (or heavy!) currents in that Great Ocean of Grace that move us toward Home. (Or maybe like a great migration of really cool sea turtles?) In addition to the terminologies of  Prevenient and Actual Grace we also have Justifying Grace which is the forgiveness of our sins through Baptism and brings us into “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” (CCC 1987). Justifying Grace is inextricably intertwined into Sanctifying Grace and together these Graces truly cleanse and free us from our sins. Because of our extraordinary gift of Free Will, these processes are always ongoing in Believers who refuse to coexist with serious sins cluttering up the interiors of their hearts. God’s Amazing Grace (↔ Music Link) takes care of that. I say again, “why would anyone want anything less?” Reflecting on that, one might ask, “Who is the person for whom salvation is not possible?” Wanna know the answer?

NEMO. That’s right! NEMO – NOBODY! Rewritten that says, “Nobody is the person for whom salvation is not possible.” Now, those of you who are grammar geeks like me will know that’s a double-negative which translates to “Everybody is the person for whom salvation is possible.” All of us live in the Great Ocean of God’s Grace because that is how and where he created us to be. Thinking back to the story of the fish trying to hold itself up in the waters, all we need to do to have Life is to Live as God intended us. Wanting anything less than that would be like that little fish deciding it wanted to walk out of the ocean and breathe in God’s Gigantic Ocean of Air. That may be good enough for a mermaid named Ariel, but it’s not good enough for us. DON’T FORGET NEMO. Remember, Nemo is nobody. God has forgotten Nobody in his Absolutely Perfect Plan, so that must mean we’re part of it – surprise! (↔ Click Link) Why would we want anything less?

Ephesians 2:4-9 – 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ —by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. There’s no point in chasing pursuing our own ends to stay afloat in God’s Infinite Mercy. Otherwise, if we choose unwisely, we might have a misadventure like Nemo and Dory or even like The Three Little Fishies (↔ Music Link).

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Aloha Friday Message – September 22, 2023 – Who’s there?

September 22, 2023

2338AFC092223 – Who’s there?

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Isaiah 55:6 –
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found, (↔ Music Link)
call upon him while he is near

Philippians 1:20-c – 21 – Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

Psalm 145:18 –
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.

Matthew 20:14-15 – 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous*?

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. We are already at the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. There are only eight more weeks in Ordinary Time until we celebrate The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe on November 26th. At the outset today, I want to mention a previous post. In 1738AFC092217 – BHLJ! I urged all of us to “Be Humble Like Jesus” where I said – “The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ Jesus required, and submitted to, humility before all other things. It took humility to obey. It took humility to empty himself and become an earthling. It took humility to direct his life and our hearts to God. It takes Love to be humble. ‘Be Humble Like Jesus.’ B.H.L.J.” I guess if I really want to do that, I should have in me the same attitude as Christ. Maybe it would be wise to just listen to that little old guy in the back of my head, zip my lip, and light up my heart so I can clearly see all the things which I do that Jesus wouldn’t do. Please bear that challenging adage in mind as you continue to read.

We will begin with the Key Verse from the Gospel of Matthew. The landowner says Take what belongs to you and go. This comes as dusk is falling and the men are about to head home. What might this mean for us? What does Jesus, the ultimate landholder, give us to take before we go home? I think it is Jesus himself and the salvation that comes through him. The Apostle Paul advises we should “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” He is not saying we cannot depend on help from the Holy Spirit, but rather that we need to be attentive to how God is working within us to bring us closer to him. That attentiveness is something we should keep handy always.

Next the landowner says, “ I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” When we belong to God, we allow him to be free to choose what is ours, to choose which Gifts he bestows through his Grace. His ways of choosing are incomprehensible to us, and the type and magnitude of his Gifts are beyond us. Recall that he says in Isaiah 55:9 –
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. God is indeed omnibenevolent and omniscient; his gifts are magnificent – but they are Gifts and we can reject or even undervalue them. That’s what the men who had worked all day did.

They “decided” they should be paid more because they endured more. The landowner accuses them of being envious – in Greek the idiom is that they gave him the “evil eye” – because he is generous. It is the same when we “decide” that God “owes us” for all the good things we do when the truth is that what God owes us is (at the very least) chastisement. Now, if I were a laborer in that man’s neighborhood, I would certainly look for more opportunities to work for him. Would I always make sure to arrive just before dusk? The landowner gave the workers who arrived early a fair wage. He gave those who started later a generous wage. Either way, he was generous because he gave freely of what was his. God will do the same for all who willing labor in his vineyards. The “payment” for our lives in  his employment is eternal, everlasting life. That is certainly very generous! After all, our life comes from him and we hope it will return to him.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians about that. His life-goal was that in all things, Christ  would be exalted. What is “exalted?” It means praised, extolled, acclaimed, honored. He adds to that “in my body.” Many interpret The Apostle Paul’s statement in Galatians 6:17 – 17 From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body as meaning that he bore the stigmata, the marks of Jesus crucifixion. At the very least, The Apostle Paul’s back was scarred by all the floggings and beatings he received. (See a list in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28). He suffered much before he was executed. All of that was minor, in his heart and mind, compared to what Jesus suffered for him and for us. It is no wonder, then, that he said, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” For those among us who also suffer – either because of illnesses or persecutions – we can understand that dying would be gain, but it will be all the more so if our living is in, with, for, and through Christ. We can offer our lives of suffering to be united with the suffering of Jesus and we will be living in, with, for, and through Jesus. We know that The Apostle Paul asked to be relieved of at least some of his suffering – his thorn in his side – and we also know Jesus told him, “My Grace is sufficient for you.” (↔ Music Link) I often have trouble remembering that, despite my many weaknesses because one of my greatest weaknesses is that I FORGET. Belovéd, when we forget, we often call out to God “Help me Lord!” (↔ Music Link) It is then we are reminded that it is his pleasure and will for us to call out to him.

Psalm 145:18 –
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth. This is a point where I wish to remind you again of 1738AFC092217 – BHLJ! That post featured this image. Use the link to the previous post for a larger view. I reiterate that this image has always been part of my life. It was seen in our home and in our church, in the houses of many of our family’s friends, and in our hearts and minds. How close must Jesus be if Jesus is knocking at the door of my soul? Do you recall who else is at that door, waiting for a chance to burst in? The Lord God told Cain in Genesis 4:7 – 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain did not master the temptation of sin. The Apostle Paul alludes to this in Ephesians 4:25-27 – 25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. Who’s that knocking at my door? Well, if Jesus is in our hearts and fellowshipping with us, then that must be the Devil come a-knocking, and in that case we better ask Jesus, “Could you get that for me?”(↔ Learning Link) Adelphos, if Jesus is close enough to knock, (↔ Music Link) OPEN THE DOOR! Is there something in that space set aside for him that doesn’t belong there? THROW IT OUT! Ask the Holy Spirit to clean house for Jesus’ entry. Repent and Believe the Gospel isn’t just an idle slogan. And, if we have some reason to suspect that Jesus is not knocking at the door, CALL HIM UP AND ASK HIM OVER! (Psalm 145:18 again). Why?

Because of Isaiah 55:6 –
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found, (↔ Music Link)
  call upon him while he is near.  Now years ago I thought that verse said to see the Lord where he may be found because it said, “call upon him while he is near.” Well, DUH! It’s both! This requires some additional thought, so let’s expand the context by going to Isaiah 55:3-7 –
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

We are invited to come to God through Christ Jesus’ Way – the Cross. Here again, God is calling upon Israel (and of course, us) to repent. When is it too late to repent? AFTER WE’RE DEAD! Therefore, “while he may be found” is while we are alive on Earth. If we die unrepentant, that’s it, finito, all gone. It says, “let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” When is he near? ALL of us know the answer to that one. HE’S EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME.

If anyone is reading this, that person is still an earthling on the Earth and therefore concomitantly alive with God. That would be a good time to call, but an even better time to “return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” And here’s the clincher found in Matthew 22:14 – 14 For many are called, but few are chosen. We call on HIM because HE calls us, chosen before the dawn of creation. We must not “forget to answer.” By doing so, we reject his gift of Mercy, and reject our choosing by him.

Mercy, also called loyal or steadfast love, is one of the most notable aspects of God’s character. By His very nature, He shows unstoppable, limitless, everlasting mercy, even to those who don’t deserve it: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy” (Micah 7:18). Who’s there all the time, everywhere? Who ceaselessly calls us? Who knocks waiting to be invited in for fellowship? Do we hear that call? I Can Hear My Savior Calling, and he’s calling all of us. Sirach 51:12 –
12     for you saved me from destruction
and rescued me in time of trouble.
For this reason I thank you and praise you,
and I bless the name of the Lord.

What destruction might we avoid if we answer that call, respond to that knock? What will happen if we do, and why? How about this? Romans 3:23-25 – 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed. (my emphases) In “this day and age,” we know that Satan and sin have waltzed right into our societies and drawn many away from God. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 – 1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. But we have the promise of salvation through Christ Jesus. Jeremiah 50:20 – 20 In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared. Too many people are locked inside with the Devil and too few are banging on the door to get out. YOLO-F is a reality, but if we “forget” that it starts as an earthling and continues after we leave the Earth, our seemingly good intentions quite can quite literally pave the road to Hell. Therefore, Belovéd, BHLJ. THAT IS THE Absolutely Perfect Plan.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – September 15, 2023 – Pardon Me

September 15, 2023

2337AFC091120 – Pardon me.

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Sirach 28:6-7 – 6 Remember the end of your life, and set enmity aside; remember corruption and death, and be true to the commandments. 7 Remember the commandments, and do not be angry with your neighbor; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook faults.

Romans 14:8 – 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. YOLO-F

Psalm 103:3-4 – Bless the Lord, O my soul! (↔ Music Link)
3 Who pardons all your sins,
and heals all your ills,
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
and crowns you with mercy and compassion
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Matthew 18:21-22 – 21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. What are your thoughts about death? Do you have a deeply-rooted understanding of the purpose of death in God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan? Or do you rather have an intellectual or even poetic notion of death as “the next level” of our existence? Come to think of it, do you ever think of it? Most of us would rather not think of it, and I suspect there are a few who regret or even disparage it. We all know it’s going to happen “someday,” and don’t want it to be today. In the past, we’ve asked “Are we really, really ready to die?” Well are we? We’ve all got to do it, but none of us is in a hurry to “get it over with.” We think about the part “They’ll all miss me.” We also  think about the part about “The Big Blue Button (↔ Click Link) with a big white H” on it – “I’m sure I’ll end up in heaven.” Here’s sort of a summary of this idea from the past:

Perhaps you do not recognize the phrases in this image. The Latin translates as “Time flees, Remember You Must Die.” Look at our Key Verse for today. It is part of the first reading for Sunday, September 17, 2023, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Sirach 27:30—28:7. It speaks to us of resentments that are nurtured and fortified by the desire for vengeance. The writer is named יֵשׁוּעַ, Yeshua [Jesus], son of Eleazar, son of Sira” translated as “Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem.” Ben Sira wrote in Hebrew, but his grandson later translated the book into Greek. The content of this lovely book is, in many ways, like the familiar Book of Proverbs, and is included in the list of writings called “Wisdom Literature.” Sirach is warning us to be true to the commandments – always a wise thing to do. He cautions us “do not be angry with your neighbor; remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook faults.” Overlook faults? Honestly, compared to thinking about death, that just might be something we think even less about! Again, intellectually or poetically, we know that’s part of the Two Great Commandments – Love God and Love you neighbor. Why would God tie those two things together? Is that just something he threw in to make life more difficult?

Well, of course not. He didn’t just throw in some random requirement to keep us on our toes. The similarity between them is part and parcel of being created in the image and likeness of God. when we fail to do one or the other – or even worse, both – we are telling God, “I don’t want to be like you, and I don’t want you to tell me what to do.” That is most definitely an unwise stance, but it is regrettably not uncommon. “The commandments are such an imposition! Every little thing I do has to be checked against them to see if I’m in compliance.” When I hear that coming from someone, I hope they are outside the Church – the Body of Christ because if they are not, then they are committing a grave error. God offers pardon and peace to all. Not all will accept either or both. Once we have accepted Grace – the unmerited favor of God – then we can keep it or throw it away. This is not the venue for debating the “one and done” version of redemption, but we do know that when God sees our contrite repentance something incomprehensible happens, he forgives and forgets. (See Isaiah 43:25) We earthlings have trouble with both sides of that pairing, too.

We see it on the “True Crime” shows often – “I can never forgive her/his vicious act!” or “I have forgiven him/her, but I will never forget what they did.” That’s not the way God works (and also therefore not the way we should work). God is Sovereign over all Creation and has authority to pardon us – to graciously grant us a remission of the penalty due to sin. A pardon is a sovereign act by a superior authority which grants the lessening or omission of punishment. The Justice of God is his authority to expunge  our guilt and retore us to his company. It requires reparation for the remission of our sin, and thus he provides us with justification that is in his capacity as The Just Judge. He grants all of the rewards and blessings of our Salvation. Sin is actually removed from our soul. Now that’s something to think about! Pardon and Justification are Graces for those who belong to the Lord, who present themselves in humility and contrition, and who accept and abide in God’s limitless Grace. As The Apostle Paul has said in our Key Verse from his epistles, Romans 14:8 – 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. So, if we live or die for the Lord, then we are ready to die, right? Well, so it would seem, but the a priori issue is that humble and contrite heart and submitting ourselves to God for his judgment – not just at the end of time – but all the time.

Jesus lives for the living and the dead; he has been both, and he rules over both. If we are living in Jesus, we are living with the living and dying with the dead. Time flees and death waits. We’re not going to be able to change that. If death is waiting a little farther down the road, we can choose to fill our lives with Life or empty our lives with Death. Life is founded in Love – Love of God and neighbor; Death is founded in indifference – indifference to God and to neighbor. Why do I say indifference instead of hate? Hate requires effort, the effort of acknowledging the other. Indifference won’t make that effort. Hate does require some work. Take, for example, the bearing of a grudge, the nurturing of enmity. I think most of us have read the story (← Check it out!) about the black wolf and the white wolf inside of us, fighting for control. The story ends with the promise that the wolf we feed is the one that wins. In everything in our lives we face the same kind of dichotomy – the conflict between good and evil, between carnal and spiritual, between conscience and consciousness of the effect of our choices. It seems to me it always comes down to picking one of two things – to be more like God or more like me. It sickens me to realize how often I make the wrong choice almost automatically. There is a better way.

Perhaps you will recall the passage from last week in Matthew 18 where Jesus set out the parameters for fraternal correction (2336AFC090823 – Marana tha!) in the Church – privately between you and another member, then with 2-3 witnesses, then with the church. If they will still refuse to repent and reform, they are to be considered as living outside the fraternity of the Saints. Nonetheless, we must always bear in mind that repentance and reform are always possible, so we forgive them. Forgiveness (↔ Music Link) can be a tough pill to swallow!

Immediately following the passage in Matthew on fraternal correction we read in Matthew 18:21-22 – 21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. There is a similar admonition in Luke 17:3-4 – 3 Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. 4 And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” If we don’t, we are faking our “holiness.” Why? Why must we be so forgiving? Because, we are created in God’s image, AND THAT’S WHAT GOD DOES. We are to be holy because HE is Holy. That means we must live our lives with God in control, not us. Man, oh man, is that tough to do! We should not – must not – let our lives betray the Goodness which God puts into us so that we look like, sound like, walk like, pardon like, and forgive like HE does. As the Psalmist said, it is God who pardons all our sins, who heals our ills, who redeems our life from Sheol, who crowns us with mercy and compassion. We, too, must pardon and forgive.

We are Baptized in Jesus as Priest, Prophet, and King (↔ Music Link) and Confirmed in the Holy Spirit to act on and with the Graces given to us. In our Priesthood of the believer, we can forgive as we expect to be forgiven – “forgive us as (in the same way) we forgive each other.” In the believer’s role as Prophet, we are called upon to edify and to set an example for the sinners inside and outside the Church, to share the Love and content of the Logos with our neighbors, and to faithfully proclaim the Good News in the ways we live our lives. In our believer’s Kingship, we can pardon one another’s transgressions against us by omitting all desire for every form of retribution.

Belovéd, let us give Love, share Love, receive Love, be Love  (↔ Music Link). Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift. If we receive the Gift as those living in Christ, then we must also give the gift as those living in Christ. The Apostle Peter’s question was about someone in the Church. Jesus answer says we must forgive 70 X 7 = 490 (or in some versions 77 X 7 = 539). Honestly, if we’re keeping track for that many “offenses,” are we truly being forgiving? Peter thought he was being overly generous. The Pharisees said 3 times was enough, so he figured 7 would be extraordinarily righteous. Jesus shows Peter – and us – that God never runs out of forgiveness. Remember, even if a mother could forget the child in her womb, God will not forget us; but he does forget our sins! We need to stop revolting against God. How can he forgive our treason if we continue to fight against him? We need to repent and believe the Gospel. Do not think of your repentance as the cause of your forgiveness, but rather understand that forgiveness is the companion of repentance We need to stop revolting against God. How can he forgive our treason if we continue to fight against him? We need to repent and believe the Gospel. Do not think of your repentance as the cause of our forgiveness, but rather understand that forgiveness is the companion of our repentance.

Belovéd, time is flying and death is waiting. We can choose to make the journey peaceful or terrifying. Let us choose Peace, therefore, that we may live, and live as the Lord’s! Let us forgive one another, edify one another, and pardon one another. Just so, let us turn to God and pray, “Lord, pardon me.”

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – September 8, 2023 – Marana tha!

September 8, 2023

2336AFC090823 – Marana tha!

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Ezekiel 33:9 – 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

Romans 13:10 – 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Psalm 95:7-c – 8-a – O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts (R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.)

Matthew 18:19-20 – 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Today’s Key Verses point toward paying attention to what God expects from us. We are to do good, be good, and work for good in all things. We’ll pick those Key Verses apart in a bit, but first a comment about the title. Why did I choose that? I don’t know. I didn’t choose it. As I prayed about working on this in the early morning (before drifting off again), I was thinking about the world situation. Some commentators (the talking heads on the MSMOs) are promoting the idea that we either have to force Peace in Ukraine or fight a war with Russia – either/or. Some say that if the US-of-A gets further tangled up in other nations’ messes, China will clobber Taiwan with massive force, and Palestine will join with Syria to pummel Israel. That’s too much to think about at 3 AM! I knew at the time that it was Wednesday, so I left behind the World’s woes and asked what we’d be writing about today. The answer was Marana tha.

We’ve used that phrase several times in the past, but let me just put a reminder here of that that means. Here is a sampling of the words’ origins and meanings, starting with the Greek words: Μαρανα θα! Μαραν αθα! Maranâ thâ‘! (↔ Click it) Maran ‘athâ’ (Aramaic: מרנאתא‎) – Come Lord! Our Lord has come! This word occurs only once in Scripture in 1 Corinthians 16:22 (follow this to see multiple translations of how this is used – and sometimes abused!) These Greek words are formed by assigning Greek letter to the spelling of an Aramaic word – (מרנאתא‎). The splitting of the saying – some might call it an epithet – gives two slightly different meanings. The first shown here – marana tha – is “Come Lord!” and the second – maran atha – connotes “Our Lord has come.” Either way, there is the connotative sense that the Lord is present and there is a prolonged effect of his presence. The Lord God is present among us, and he’s not going anywhere but here.

If he’s here, there must be something happening as we gather together across miles and miles of ocean and land. Are we gathered together in his name? Perhaps, but there are things we can do together even when we are alone. We can pray with and in the Holy Spirit, and when we do Jesus IS WITH US, because wherever the Holy Spirit is there too is the Son and the Father surrounding us in Love because God is Love. If we look at the Gospel Key Verse, in this section of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is giving instructions on “fraternal correction.”

We are supposed to have faith, trust in the Lord, do the right thing, love God and neighbor, and keep an eye on the folks around us – especially our fellow Christians. Wha-a-a-a-a-t? Let me give you some examples. We can start with a quote from Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew 18. Jesus is telling the Apostles how to deal with “backsliders,” and folks who misrepresent the values and practice of Christian living. What Jesus tells them is too 1 – privately alert them, 2 – meet with them and 2-3 witnesses, and 3 – if all else fails, take the matter to the Church – the Fellowship of Saints to which you both belong. If the errant member will not accept the rule of the Church, that one is to be treated as “Gentile or a tax collector,” that is, as someone outside the fellowship of the Church. Does that seem inconsistent with our beliefs about “Christian values?” Hmm, maybe it is not only consistent, but also necessary.

Take a look at the Key Verse passage from Ezekiel. God (The Holy Trinity) tells him he must convince sinners to repent. If he does, he and the sinner will live – be able to carry on with their lives. If he cannot convince the sinner, the sinner will die and the sinner’s death will be Ezekiel’s (hence therefore our) fault! In that passage, Ezekiel – who is at that time a 30-year-old Priest of God – is commissioned to be God’s Prophet and to rein in the rebellious Israelites so that they would return to their heritage as God’s chosen people. One guy against the entire nation. Someday, just for fun, read the first three (↔ Learning Link) Chapters of Ezekiel. There are some mighty strange things in Ezekiel’s visions! Nonetheless he was an effective Prophet for God and helped Israel recover from their deportation to Chaldea (Babylon).

Ezekiel was sent to prophesy against Israel because there were “a rebellious house” according to the Lord’s judgment. He calls them that eight times in the passage recommended above. This also ties in with the Psalms Key Verse for today. There is a reference in Psalm 95 to the rather noisy incident where Moses and The People quarreled (place-name Meribah) over the lack of water and tested God (place-name Massah). From the git-go they were a contentious bunch, and many seers, judges, and prophets were sent to them by El Elyon (God Most High) to straighten them out. It’s safe to say, it never fully worked because even in the presence of the Messiah, Yeshua, they were still arguing – mostly about things that were of human, not divine, concern. The psalmist is telling us, “Listen for HIS voice (and turn yours off) and don’t try to be quarrelsome. There’s no point in arguing with God.” We know that, don’t’ we? Still, as with Israel, we forget and get hard-headed anyway. That hard head leads to and supports a wagging tongue. Go back and look at James 3 (↔ Learning Link) where he says “no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” (See James 3:8).

There is absolutely no point in arguing with God, nor is there any reason to hand him a checklist of change-orders. Get together with your adelphos and recall that “if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Now, some folks claim that this applies to the series of admonitions for fraternal correction. That conclusion requires a bit of what I call “hopscotch logic.” One has to make some irrational connections to make it work. So, get together as 2, and Jesus is the third – maybe. I tend to think he’s the first. Because why? Because he’s always with us if we are with him.

That’s the best reason I can think of to know about and utilize maran atha – the Lord has come (and he’s right here with us … TODAY! NOW!) OH, WOW! It’s time to follow Ezekiel’s example and quietly receive the Word of God in our mouth and to digest it so it becomes the Word of the Lord. And what is that Word? Belovéd, you might be sick of this by now but it is “Repent and Believe the Gospel.” Ezekiel’s mission was to warn the wicked that judgment will weigh heavily upon them if they do not turn from their wicked ways. God’s Justice is served with generous Mercy. In Ezekiel 33:11 God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?” From the moment the Serpent handed over the fruit, God has been restoring us through justice and penance. Since we still couldn’t seem to handle it, he himself made the restoration. Yet, we can’t seem to get it though our thick, flint-hard skulls that all God wants from us is to be his … not ours, but his. “If today you hear is voice …” Turn your radio off? (↔ Music Link) Take a look at Luke 11:24-28 – 24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
True Blessedness
27 While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” Yup, like that song says, “Turn Your Radio ON!” If we turn it off, we can’t hear the Word of Christ being preached. Romans 10:17 says – 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

Belovéd, when we receive the Word of God and digest its power in our hearts so that it flows sweetly into our minds, we are empowered with the Grace to Love God and Live in and through his Word. I feel most of us would agree that we can often be hardheaded, but if we stick to that, it only makes it more difficult to be soft-hearted to the kernels of truth – the κήρυγμα, Kerygma (English transliteration), the core of the Gospels, the proclamation of the Life of the Christ and Word of God. Remember, the people of Nineveh – a huge pagan city-state that represented antipathy against God – repented at the preaching of Jonah, who had to die in order to accept his mission of conversion. (See Jonah 1:17 – 2:9, especially verse 2:2). Jonah would have been much better off had he not defied God and tried to run away. So would we, Belovéd; so would we.

What is the point of this “Repent and Believe the Gospel?” What sort of things shall we turn away from? Of what sinfulness are we convicted when we truly listen to and hear the Gospel? To help answer that, I invite you to look back to earlier this week for Terrific Tuesday – a very serious Terrific Tuesday. We looked at 1 Corinthians 13:13 – 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. [Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)  KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK. Used with permission.] I have learned recently in studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church that Charity is giving God Primacy in our exercise of Love.  Now, this will be true no matter what how or where you read this chapter. First a quote from the CCC, Part 3, Chapter 1, Article Seven, Paragraph 1822 (↔ Click Link). There is a bit of information in that one short sentence that one can overlook. I’m going to copy it here:

Charity is the theological virtue by which
we Love God above all things for his own sake,
and our neighbor as ourselves for the Love of God.

In the original Greek, the word used for Charity is agape (ἀγάπη), and that is the purest and utterly supreme Love shared with God as The Holy Trinity. God is Love and those who abide in Love abide in God and God in them. (See 1 John 4:16) That is the goal of Repent and Believe the Gospel – as The Apostle Paul put it, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” How can we do that? It sounds so simple – love God and love your neighbor as one loves one’s self. The best I can come up with is maran atha, marana tha. If the Lord, present to us, is our director – our leader, our teacher, our mentor, our shepherd, our Savior, and our God – then it would be best for us to hush and listen as we stroll through his Garden (↔ Music Link) because there we will not be alone. Being accompanied thus, we are better disposed to prayer “where two or three are gathered.” Even so, come Lord Jesus. My heart is longing for you. (↔ Music Link) Maran atha, maran atha, marana tha.

Psalm 95:1-2 –
1 O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! (↔ Music Link)

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Aloha Friday Message – September 1, 2023 –Wise Up and Change Up

September 1, 2023

2335AFC090123 – Wise Up and Change Up

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Romans 12:1-2 – 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed* by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect. (or: what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God)

(GNT) 1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform* you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
* μεταμορφόω – metamorphoó (met-am-or-fo’-o) from which we get the word “metamorphosis.” This signifies transformation, change, modification – the change of one type of thing to another type of thing as in a tadpole to a toad.

Jeremiah 20:7 c -9 –
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out,
I must shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Today I want to change things up a bit and instead of pulling something from all four Scripture readings, I want to put our main focus on our Key Verse from Romans 12. As often stated here, this is one of those passages I committed to memory, probably as a teenager, and – although I may not be able to recite it with 100% accuracy, I do use it often, especially in my Morning Offering. (↔ Click it) Years after I memorized it, I thought “renewal of your minds” was related to the Greek word metanoia, which usually translated as “repent(ance).” Here are some examples of that usage: Metanoia Verses – Matthew 4:17, Mark 2:17, Acts 2:38, Acts 19:4, and Acts 20:21. As we can see by the notes under the Key Verse, “renewal” in The Apostle Paul’s usage means a change from one thing (state-of-being) to another, different thing (state-of-enhanced-being). How in the World do we do that?

Well, obviously, this is not something that can be done in “The World,” because what The Apostle Paul is presenting here is an invitation – and a methodology – for making a form of spiritual (not physical, but metaphysical) transformation. We can be completely changed from a soul drenched in sin to a soul grounded in Love when we experience true repentance. What does he tell us to do to begin this process? He says “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Another way of saying that is your reasonable service of worship. Metanoia is to move beyond where our hearts and minds are and into a new paradigm, a new way of thinking and feeling, and seeing everything in life. When we repent, we have a change of mind – not a renewing of mind as in our Key Verse for today. Another way to think of it is we quash, break, nullify, defeat, or conquer a temptation that is repeatedly before us; we break a bad habit; we realign our values-system so that it aligns more closely with God’s values. Fine, but how?

WE make an effort to sin less even though we know we can never be sinless. Repentance restores our relationship with God, and often it also restores our relationships with community, family, and friends. It gives back to us the “whatever or the whomever” we lost because of sin; it even gives us back to us. It’s not a matter of time – how long we are away, or of intensity – how greatly we’ve sinned. It is a matter of turning around and going back, repenting. Repentance might be thought of as the engine that causes the transformation to move from one state of being to another because it is our minds that are renewed. Once we make up our minds to live a moral life (which involves a great deal of sacrificing of the flesh – sin), then we are indeed transformed. This “engine” is built into us like the bio-physiology that is built into the life of a toad’s tadpole. Once it gets started, and under even marginally-favorable conditions, it goes on as God intends. Easy for a toad – hard for us. Why? Because the tadpole of a toad cannot choose to become the tadpole of a frog, much less a blue jay. It is only we earthlings who have a voice in determining what we become; that is the marvelous Gift of God called Free Will.

When we make a conscious decision followed by a conscientious effort to suppress the desires of our flesh, concupiscence, then we sacrifice what we think we want in order to receive what God knows we need: Him. No longer are we slaves to the flesh, but, in our renewal, we become slaves of the Spirit. Then Jesus himself tells us “I no longer call you slaves, but friends. (See John 15:15) We are transformed inwardly by a complete change of our minds. Because of the evil we bring into The World, our minds are inclined toward evil. Jesus is exceptionally clear about how Disciples are supposed to align themselves with him. We are to testify. We know from previous lessons that the words “witness” and “testify” are closely related to our English word martyr; from Greek μαρτυρέω (martureó) {mar-too-reh’-o}. All martyrs testify, but not all who testify are martyred in the sense of dying. We who testify are martyred in the sense of mortification, the “dying” of oneself for the betterment or acknowledgement of the other. God has provided for us this utterly amazing counter-inclination: Repentance – well, by now we must surely know that this means metanoia – a conversion in one’s life that arises from penitence (sincere and effective sorrow), and doing “a 180” so that whatever transgression(s) arose, we choose to delete that poor choice and replace it with a better choice. That’s the process of metamorphosing our minds. Cool, eh? It works like this.

That amazing feat of metanoia is grounded in our metamorphosis. Our sinful, concupiscent mind becomes a righteous, obedient mind which redirects and transforms our sinful wants in the flesh into our holy and humble service to Jesus. As St. Teresa of Avila said
“Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.
“Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people. Amen.” Whenever we accept that challenge – to be the real Church, the Body of Christ, the Servant of all – then we do become his hands and feet, we see as though through God’s eyes, and – through and in our confident F.A.I.T.H. – we continue to have the desire and the ability to experience metamorphosis. That experience prepares us for the JOY of metanoia. That J.O.Y. we attain leads us to TESTIFY (← Check it out!) (μαρτυρέω – martureó), and in some instances under the special Grace of God, to prophesy.

Prophecy is a gift of witnessing sometimes given even before birth (↔ Music Link) that just will not stay bottled up! A prophet is anyone who claims to speak God’s words or to teach in his name and is inspired by God to deliver God’s Word and Will to others and what s/he says is Truth. The Old Testament word for prophet is נָבִיא (nabiy’ ) {nah-bee’}. There are some disagreements among scholars about the origin of that word, but one that is well-accepted is that this noun comes from the verb noba` meaning to “bubble up,” “boil over”,” as in “to pour forth an abundance of words,” such as those who speak within divine inspiration. It is by and through the power and inspiration of God that a prophet speaks, and a prophet can’t help but speak when and what God commands any more than a boiling pot can stop bubbling. And that is the key. Those who have Divine Inspiration are True Prophets. The converse is that those whose “inspiration” is self-generated are the False Prophets. Belovéd, let’s stand in agreement with Moses that all may be gifted with prophecy! (See Numbers 11:29) How wonderful it would be if all of us could lay aside all our Worldly idols and speak the words God sends us which begin with, “Thus says the Lord.”

With this in mind, let us look at the closing phrase of today’s Key Verse from Jeremiah 20:9 –
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.

Once one receives the authentic Gift of Divine Prophecy, once cannot hold back from exercising it at God’s command. Someone can speak, “Thus says the Lord God,” but if what follows comes from that person’s own heart and mind, then it is false prophecy and worthy of severe condemnation. False prophecy is like characterizing God as a liar. He doesn’t take that well at all. Several times we have shown that all the blessings of following Christ also come with persecution, suffering, and sometimes even death. Those who can still follow Jesus, carrying their own cross, making their own trip to Golgotha – they follow him and love him and serve him despite all of that because that is how they offer up their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. If we search with all our heart, where, when, and how will we find God so we can worship him? (↔ Music Link) What, then, is the form of this worship?

It is obedience to God as Trinity. It is to be just, and merciful, and obedient and to love God and neighbor equally. It is to be humble and lowly, last of and beneath all. Most likely I am “preaching to the choir” here, but sometimes it is the choir that needs to wise up and change up. That might require us to shut up and stop blathering about how good we are as God’s Little Christian, YADA-YADA-YADA. When we come to the daily, even hourly denial of our own flesh through almsgiving, fasting, and prayer, then we’re certainly “in the ball park.” It sounds complicated and unpleasant (which gives rise to the saying “Not all thorns have roses), but actually it’s not that hard to start the habit of our reasonable service of spiritual worship. That is a baby-step toward being Holy. Here’s what The Apostle Peter said about that:
1 Peter 1:13-16 – 13 Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. 14 Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 15 Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (↔ Music Link) Does that sound like too much? That’s the point. It is too much … if you never get started, so start with something that is easy like prayer, or fasting, or almsgiving.

Fridays are for fasting. Can we take a pass on that Big Mac some Friday, or fast from that second beer while watching a Friday sports event? Can we buy a meal for a houseless person and sit with them as they enjoy it so that you can fellowship with them? Can we offer up prayers for the thousands on Maui who have lost everything and ask for God’s Peace and Provision? Can we pray a rosary with a family suffering the loss of a Belovéd relative? ʻŌmea, these are not hard things, but they are Good things. How can we learn to develop the Gift to search for and identify such opportunities? We’ll turn to The Apostle Paul again:

Philippians 4:8 – 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. This is the Christian equivalent of GI-GO only in this case, the G’s stand for Gospel, not garbage. We see hundreds of people walking around with wireless earbuds, Bluetooth phone thingies, headphones, even ear plugs as they are trying to shut out the noise around them by “controlling” the noise within them. Some listen to podcasts, some to hip-hop, some to rap, perhaps even a few listen to “classical music” (not the same as “classic rock”). Here is another (GNT) version: 8 In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. None of those alternatives for control listed above fit the criteria of The Apostle Paul’s advice. I have one more suggestion before we wrap this up. It’s within the parameters set up by The Apostle Paul. It’s also in the APP for YOLO-F.

Now, ʻŌmea, whenever we feel prompted – most likely by the Holy Spirit – to be just, and merciful and obedient, to live righteously, and to walk humbly before our God, then we need to change up our programming and wise up in the things of God. What the World programs for us is foolishness, but whosoever follows The Way of God is wise. Here’s a clue from the book of Proverbs:
Proverbs 13:20 (GNT) – 20  Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid people, you will be ruined. Pretty blunt, eh? Hold up your hand if you’ve been there, done that. When people laugh at us and call us fools for loving, trusting, and obeying God, then it is our testimony that measures the greatness of their fall. If we make a move to change, we need to make that change upwards-only. That is the wisest choice in a World that always seeks to bring us down like the Prince of the Air was brought down. We should all read Chapter 14 of the Book of Proverbs and decide which state of life we should pursue. If you enjoy exciting literature about historic and fantastic battles of Prophet versus evil, I urge you to read about Elijah in the 1st Book of Kings, chapters 17 – 19.

And now may the God of All Mercies be with you, both now and forever, in all that you think, do, or say.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Aloha Friday Message – August 25, 2023 – God’s got you pegged

August 25, 2023

2334AFC082523 – God’s got you pegged.

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

Isaiah 22:22-23 – 22 I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open. 23 I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his ancestral house.

Psalm 138:1 –
1 With all my heart
I will praise you, Lord.
In the presence of angels
I will sing your praises.(CEV) [1]

Romans 11:33 – 33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Matthew 16:19 – 19 I will give you the keys * of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. * kleidas plural of κλεῖς – key

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord. We are already at the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. The reading in this cycle (A) point us toward the investiture of The Apostle Peter as “The Rock.” Now, this is not the Rock like Dwayne Johnson. No, this is The Rock like the Rock of Ages (↔ Music Link) and that Rock – Jesus the Lord – bestowed that stability on The Apostle Peter and the Εκκλησία – Church (See Matthew 16:18) which he would build. He gave The Apostle Peter the Keys of the Kingdom (See Matthew 16:18-19). The Key of the Kingdom are the insignia, the badge, of power. That’s the importance of our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah – I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. The Apostle Peter was given the keys to the Church, and since the Church was established on the Rock of Jesus’ authority through God and the House of David, not even the gates of Hell could conquer it. This is similar to the promise made to Eliakim in today’s Key Verse from Isaiah.

Eliakim (meaning “whom God will raise up”) was the son of Hilkiah (meaning “my chosen portion”). God chose Eliakim to take over the duties of Shebna (perhaps “Jehovah has brought me back) who was a spectacular failure and who built his own very elaborate sepulcher while he was still alive. He was a self-absorbed show-off who held the position of the King’s secretary or scribe. Isaiah called him out and predicted his fall from his fantasy of glory. In his place, God set Eliakim – his chosen servant – and Eliakim eventually became the King’s Prime Minister – the person who was the supreme gatekeeper for the House of David. Whenever he spoke, he spoke with the authority of the King. If he shut the door, it was shut. If he opened the door, it stayed open unless or until he shut it. This is a prefiguring of the authority given to The Apostle Peter. He held Christ’s authority to open or shut the door.

Whatever door is closed by Christ cannot be opened by any other for any reason. Jesus opens to us the door of eternal salvation for soul and body, but to those who refuse to enter by that door, the door will be shut as surely as God closed the door on the Ark (See Genesis 7:16) Christ has this authority from God. It is his to use, or to share, as pleases him. He himself stated this unequivocally. Then he shared it with his Apostles, and their successors who share it among us to this very day. This is another of the Core Principles in the Absolutely Perfect Plan. This is why we say “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!”

You can see several passages such as these that show how Jesus described his own authority: Matthew 11:27, Matthew 28:18-20, John 3:35, John 17 (←IMPORTANT!), Daniel 7:13-14. I want to give you the text of Matthew 28:18 as it represents the other passages well. It says, 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This is part of “The Great Commission”  where Jesus gave his authority to all Disciples (including us) to spread the Gospel. It is Scripture that is the framework for the Church, and the foundation of the Church is the teaching of the Apostles, especially Peter.

Why do we say, “especially Peter?” We say that because it was Peter who received the “badge of authority,” the Keys of the Kingdom, the very Kingdom that God promised through David, the Kingdom over which Eliakim presided. Only Jesus had the power to elevate The Apostle Peter to this position of authority, and that designation was made “in accordance with the Scriptures.” Eliakim was given authority over the post vacated by Shebna in the same way that Isaiah prophesied that the government would be on the shoulders of the coming Messiah –  “And the government shall be upon his shoulder.” (Isaiah 9:6 ← Multiple translations) Government in Hebrew is ham-miś-rāh – dominion, rule, government. In the same way that Christ himself addresses the church in Philadelphia and in the same way as in Daniel 7, the Kingdom of the Son of Man, the Messiah, is an everlasting kingdom with authority over all of creation because he is the “God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great God mighty and awesome,” (See Deuteronomy 10:17-18) who reigns forever and ever (See Exodus 15:18). That is our God! He is indeed an Awesome God (↔ Music Link) in Three Persons who reign from Heaven above and it is that Awesome God that gives us the Rock of Ages called The Church which is built upon the Rock of the Apostle Peter. Our Holy Triune God – who is the Rock of our Salvation – has used his authority to commission a sure and safe place in the tradition of the Psalms. You perhaps will recall this gem in Psalm 18:2 – 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. That is such an inspiring image!

When we think of inspirations, we often think of images like this one. For those of us who have music constantly playing in our heads, we might hear certain tunes going off: Here’s a great tune by Stewart Townend and Keith Getty and performed by Keith & Kristyn Getty, with Alison Krauss: In Christ Alone (↔ Music Link)  Here is another hymn that reminds us of Jesus’ words to The Apostle Peter: Upon this Rock. Just as God set Eliakim in a place of authority and secured him as “a firm peg” (or nail), The Apostle Peter was set in an unassailable position of authority. There are so many connections between the prophesies of Isaiah and the Gospels!

The entire book of Isaiah is a compilation of prophetic poetry, mostly composed by the Prophet himself, and the section here mentioned, 56-66, is notable for the contrasting hopes of the families who have returned from exile and the condemnation and destruction of the corrupt leaders of Israel. The warnings God had given to King Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7 include the oft-quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 where God states that the nation who repents and calls upon him will be saved. As Paul Harvey used to say, “Wait ’til you hear the rest of the story.” In that same chapter there is a very blunt, stark, and (frankly) scary Word from the Lord. Take a look:

2 Chronicles 7:19-22 – 19 “But if you* turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will pluck you up from the land that I have given you; and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished, and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?’ 22 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord the God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this calamity upon them.’” * In Hebrew this pronoun is plural – the Nation. It is a central theme throughout the entire Bible – if you fail to love God and neighbor, you must repent. If you do not repent, the consequences will be very unpleasant. If you do repent, the consequences will be wonderfully splendiferous. Now, doesn’t that seem like a no-brainer? Well, that’s pretty much how most of us handle it – with no brains. That’s easier to spot than you might think. You’ve heard this one many times: “by their fruits you will know them.” We have all heard about the “deeply faithful Catholic” who carries a rosary in his pocket but still won’t follow the teachings of the Church. We call people like that “good for the country.” That’s like calling elephant scat “milk.” We rename someone/something bad as something/someone good. So, you know what is coming next, correct?

Isaiah 5:20-23 – (use this link to study the GNT version)
20 Ah, you who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes,
and shrewd in your own sight!
22 Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine
and valiant at mixing drink,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of their rights!

Wisdom 5:14 –
14 Because the hope of the ungodly is like thistle-down carried by the wind,
and like a light frost driven away by a storm;
it is dispersed like smoke before the wind,
and it passes like the remembrance of a guest who stays but a day.

If you want to read something that will cheer you up, follow this link: Wisdom, Chapter 5 and read about the eternal rewards earned by the lifetimes of the righteous and the wicked.

Isaiah 43:11-13, 25 (GNT) [2] –
11 “I alone am the Lord,
the only one who can save you.
12 I predicted what would happen,
and then I came to your aid.
No foreign god has ever done this;
you are my witnesses.
13 I am God and always will be.
No one can escape from my power;
no one can change what I do.

25 And yet, I am the God who forgives your sins,
and I do this because of who I am.
I will not hold your sins against you.

Isaiah 3:11 –
11 Woe to the guilty! How unfortunate they are,
for what their hands have done shall be done to them.

Belovéd, are we the guilty ones? Are we crossing the swamp or standing on the rock? Are we held in a firm place like a peg, or are we blowin’ in the wind? God has us pegged into a safe and secure place if we repent, believe, and live the Gospel.

The people addressed by Isaiah in this passage would recognize the image of a peg pounded into a wall to hold pots, jugs, bowls, wineskins, or other items securely. It was a common practice to have such pegs to keep items safe and organized (“A place for everything and everything in its place,” as my dad used to say.) Now, in this image we do not see Eliakim held up against a wall and pounded over the head with a hammer! What we do see is Eliakim held firmly in the hands of El Shaddai so that he might be a blessing to his People. The same is true for us – IF we allow God to establish our secure position instead of always saying “I do it myself!” We have already learned that saying that is in direct disobedience to God’s will and God’s Way. If God’s got us pegged he’s got our true nature defined and has still put us in a protected place where we can use our strength in him to support others, to support materials for our ministry, or to hold onto  what has been handed down to us by the Apostles: the Gospel. We rest in God knowing that he’s got us covered no matter what. Here’s a tune about being secure as sung by Johnny Cash: I shall not be moved (↔ Music Link) Our YOLO-F life is safest when we entrust it to God so he can hold us in the hollow of his hand. (↔ Music Link)  I’m looking forward to that because when I get there I am going to live out the opening of my favorite Psalm:
1 With all my heart
I praise you, Lord.
In the presence of angels
I sing your praises.

Adelphos, once I make it Home, “I shall not be moved!” I’ve been pegged in where I belong. See you there!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

[1] (GNT) Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible. Used by permission.

[1] Passages marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible. All right reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

 

 

Aloha Friday Message – August 18, 2023 – Heartbreaking news

August 18, 2023

2333AFC081823 – Heartbreaking news

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
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    Isaiah 56:6c – 7
… all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
and hold fast my covenant —
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.

Psalm 67:4 –
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

Romans 11:29 – 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Matthew 15:24-28 – 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! This has been another difficult week here in Hawaiʻi. For those of you who have expressed some concern for our home in Kapahi, we are A-OK. The Maui fires are about 215 miles from us. Nonetheless, we mourn those whose lives ended in such terrifying circumstances. Regrettably, there is already plenty of scapegoating going on – which is neither Aloha nor Pono – and many of the overly-entitled folks affected are blaming each other with hundreds of “yes-but” responses to each other. The bottom line for us is that whatever safeguards were in place to protect against a normal wildfire were insufficient for this extraordinary, cataclysmic day. Our island of Kauaʻi is drier than it could be, but so far we have not experienced any large fires. We are also watchful of storms in the mid-Pacific. In 1992, Hurricane Iniki surprised everyone by making an unexpected turn northward and decimating Kauaʻi.

The Maui event was exacerbated by Hurricane Dora, passing far to the south of us, and a huge high-pressure area north of us. That caused a pressure gradient that upped the winds to speeds of 80 mph over Maui. That is why the fire so quickly overran the town of Lahaina. So far, we on Kauaʻi are blessed to have only minor impacts from recent storms. Please continue your prayers for those who died, but even more so for those who have survived. There is a lot of anger brewing in the hearts of a few – note that, a few – who believe “the government” or some other public authority could have prevented it, and should have been onto the island within hours bringing them food, water, and protection. Instead, it took days, and that has become a serious point of contention. Their eyes are closed to the facts, and that is the invitation for evil to move in and stir up certain hearts that feel broken. At times like these we often hear, “How could God have allowed (or caused!) this?!? It just breaks my heart to see suffering like this!” One truly remarkable response to this disaster is that many survivors of the fires (there were several across the island) started sharing whatever they had with the people who had lost everything. They organized boats and went into the damaged areas of Lahaina with food, water, clothing and whatever resources they had. This is Aloha. This is pono (pono means goodness, uprightness, morality, moral qualities, correct or proper.) They were doing the works God commands for the poor – Corporal Acts of Mercy. (← Check it out!). .

Right off the bat, I am reminded of Psalm 147:3-5 –
3 He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.

There are many people on Maui, and indeed across the globe, who have put their trust in God, gathering in prayer and worship and comforting one another. This only happens where Faith is based in the primacy of God. You may recall we have said that living in the house of God did not simply mean hanging out at the Temple or Church. “House” means family as in “the house and lineage of David.” If we look at the last two lines of our Key Verse from Isaiah, we read “… for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Those who are part of God’s family – heirs by inheritance as well as heirs by adoption – are a family of prayer by and for everyone – all Peoples. This is great news, because it means that once we give God primacy in all things, we are family, and family is community, and community is one of the Key Principles of the Absolutely Perfect Plan. Because of that, those who are in the Family of the Lord and who “walk according to his ways” benefit most from his leadership, his prodigious Gifts, and his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation through Christ our Lord.

I confess, none of that like sounds heartbreaking news. What is heartbreaking is when people abuse community, do not walk in his ways, seek their own counsel, and harm their community. We see a description of that in
Isaiah 65:1-2
I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,” * [behold]
to a nation that did not call on my name.
2 I held out my hands all day long
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices …
*Behold – הִנֵּ֣נִי hin-nê-nî (↔ Click Link)

If we look out across the World with Love in our eyes, we see the World somewhat as God sees it. Seeing thus, we see what is truly heartbreaking news. Do you remember The Apostle Paul’s long list of persons who have no place in the Kingdom of God? Let me list that reference again, and I ask that as you to read each word, recall someone you know or whom you have seen that is described by that particular word. Here we go: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – 9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

  • Fornicators – those who share the sexual embrace without matrimony, “consensual sexual intercourse between a man and especially a single woman who are not married to each other; “shacking up,”  “hooking up; ” “just living together” “boyfriend + girlfriend = ‘friends with benefits'” (and often children).
  • Idolators – all those folks who place anything at a higher station in their lives than they place God. “I’m not going to miss this game just because of Church!”
  • Adulterers – even just in our hearts we can break the fidelity of matrimony.
  • Male prostitutes and sodomites – these men have traded the natural for the unnatural; the same applies to those of the only other gender.
  • Thieves – including those who turn to looting in the mistaken notion that they are entitled to someone else’s belongings.
  • The greedy – one of the worst forms of idolatry where the acquiring and possessing of material things is the driving force to the life they lead.
  • The revilers – oh, we have so many of these, especially in politics (seen any rallies on TV lately?), but also in sectarian, racial and ethnic prejudices, and violence as in Eastern Republic of Congo and Iran.
  • Robbers – more than just thieves, robbers enter another’s property illegally, hoping to gather up costly items that they can fence to persons who knowingly buy stolen goods to resell them at a profit.

Each and every one of these states of being is heartbreaking news, because all of them represent mortal sins – infractions against the Ten Commandments – and people who die unrepentant of mortal sin have chosen to accept the full wages of sin: DEATH forever. Do you remember what we said about Solomon, the “wisest man in history?” In 2330AFC072823 – Another smart move, we stated, “There is no word in Scripture that he ever got to that stage (repentance). He may have died unrepentant, and that was definitely not another smart move.”

What happened on Maui is horrific, and we rightfully mourn for the lives lost and even grieve for the cultural and communal losses of structure, properties, and memories. Nonetheless, what is happening all around us throughout the entire World is especially heartbreaking news because most of the people who are surrounded by and stuffed-full of mortal sins don’t care about their state in Life, don’t want anyone to try to correct them, and don’t believe one tiny bit in YOLO-F. Even in worse circumstances are the folks who bear an indelible Mark of God’s election through Baptism and Confirmation, but live double lives showing one side as the image of fervent religiosity, and the other side as the image of utter indifference to the Rules of the Universe. The ha-Satan is collecting those Marks so he can show them off at the end of Time when the universe will be completely remade.

The universe is God’s creation. We are part of that creation. There are rules, laws, decrees, and patterns that govern all of creation – including us. When we live by the rules, creation is at our hand to enjoy as a natural consequence of obedience. When we flaunt the rules, all creation is against our hand as a natural consequence of disobedience. What is the state of those who fail to obey God’s commands (remember it’s God in Three Persons)? Well, their YOLO-F is spent in Hell, while those who are obedient eventually experience their YOLO-F in Heaven. The heartbreaking news is that there are so many souls living in complete indifference to God’s Way for us because they don’t believe or don’t care that God exists. Heartbreaking!

We are instructed to deal with those who bear those indelible Marks by admonishing and instructing them as listed in the Seven Spiritual Acts of Mercy (← Check it out!) For those outside, those who do not bear those indelible Marks, we are instructed to evangelize them. For those with the indelible Marks, but live a double life, we are instructed to evangelize them “in the pews.” Something we often overlook is what is “what’s in it for us.” IF we live up to our pledge of fidelity to the principles for which we were anointed – to be Priest, Prophet, and King – then we must do whatever we can to sanctify our own lives and the lives of our families. We are required to teach and edify those who rely on our servant-leadership whether young or old. In this way we help govern our lives and our family’s lives in the ways that obey God’s APP. When we do that, we are blessed with the rewards of faith – including the blessing from those we have guided toward God’s Great Throne. On the other hand, if we become a stumbling block for others, if we think we can be sneaky enough that God won’t notice and neither will our family – well, then, we are not going to have a good outcome, but rather a heartbreaking YOLO-F.

Do any of you watch the “true crime” stories on TV? One of the most common themes is a spouse who decides it is better to murder her/his spouse than to get a divorce – usually because they want to keep the financial security, life insurance, or to make sure they have custody of the kids. Even though you may be sick of hearing it from me, “the universe” cannot do a thing for you. It won’t answer your prayers, won’t guide you using the stars, won’t realign itself to make your life better or worse. STOP PRAYING TO THE UNIVERSE! (See 2330AFC072823) Stop praying to a pantheon of gods just to cover all your bases! Stop saying “It’s only a piece of paper. We really love each other and that’s enough.” No. It is not. Matrimony is a Sacrament instituted by God in Genesis to ensure we are free to marry (no skeletons to be found), we freely consent to become one flesh, we plan to make marriage a lifetime covenant commitment to each other and to God, and to “be fruitful and multiply” so that children carry forth our sacred commitments. This is our calling, to be the Servants of God and our prayer should be like that of the Canaanite woman: “Lord, help me.”  Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” What we should all be able to remember as a template for Christian living is the acronym J.O.Y. – J is for Jesus, O is for others, and Y is for you. God comes first; all else should be a distant second.

The Gifts and Call of God are irrevocable! He will not cancel them, but if we refuse those Gifts and that Call, he will not force us to accept them! This is our call: Belovéd, pray for one another. Pray for faith, discernment, patience, and perseverance, and especially humility for yourself, for the MBN, for world leaders, and most especially for every living soul that refuses God’s irrevocable call and gifts. That’s not just about Maui; it’s about the entire World. We are not far from the point where God may say this: Genesis 6:6-7 – 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” That was followed by The Flood in Noah’s time. Indications are the next purge will be with fire. Might we learn something from what happened in Maui about how to return to God? Remember, Malia Lanakila Church survived the fire, and that’s something to sing about (↔ Music Link). Selah. Heart-mending!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – August 11, 2023 – What will it take?

August 11, 2023

2332AFC081123 – What will it take?

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

1 Kings 19 b:12-13 – after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Psalm 85:10
10 Love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will embrace.

Romans 9:4-5 – 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Matthew 14:28-33 – 28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord.

We begin with something familiar – I certainly hope it is familiar! – which is an action that requires a motive. Now, psychologists tell us, “All behavior is positive in intent.” This is a presupposition in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). With that in mind, what happens when we speak, and hear ourselves speaking, this?

I believe in God, the Father,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.

Or if we say and hear, “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

Of course that sounds familiar! We say one of these Creeds every Sunday, at every daily Mass, with every Rosary, and it’s just always there for us to speak and to hear – but do we only speak and hear it? Can we conscientiously say we pray the Credo? At an even deeper level, can we attest that what we are saying, hearing, and praying is actually, precisely, and truly what we believe? Or do we get on autopilot and just bop on through it? Have you ever noticed that during the Scrutinies for catechumens when we use the Apostles Creed that somehow our brain jumps the track and we’re trying to fit the Nicene creed into our recitation? Perhaps we could scrutinize our own participation in the profession of our faith. Are we really present in that moment? Is what we are speaking, hearing, praying, and professing TRULY what we believe? What would it take to speak, hear, pray, and profess the truth handed down to us from the Apostles? For some of us, sadly, it would take a miracle – kind of like what The Apostle Peter experienced in Sunday’s Gospel. Let’s begin with that, and then move on to our other Key Verses.

This episode comes right after Jesus has delivered a bunch of parables and then, when teaching in the synagogue at Nazareth, the people “took offense at him” and refused to believe what he was teaching. Because of that lack of faith, we read “And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief. (See Matthew 13:58) What would it have taken for them to believe? What could have changed their “A-h-h-h, baloney!” attitude? Miracles? They didn’t have enough faith to believe in the Word, so they didn’t have enough faith to accept miracles. How did they fall so short in Faith? They would not hear the Word, and therefore could not accept the Word. WE have the Word, hear the Word, speak the Word, pray the Word, profess the Word, so surely we must believe the Word, including the miracles.

At the beginning of Matthew 14 we have the account of the execution of John the Baptist followed by the feeding of the 5,000. After that event, Jesus dismissed the crowds and went to a deserted place to pray until evening came. He had sent the Disciples ahead by boat to another destination. We all know the story – Master, The Tempest is Raging (↔ Music Link), and we remember The Apostle Peter’s part in it. So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me! Here it comes again, a common thread in these posts lately: HE FORGOT. Peter is “just two chapters away” (See Matthew 16 beginning at verse 13) from declaring that Jesus is the Messiah. In all fairness, it’s not so much that The Apostle Peter forgot, he just had not yet made up his mind. I have always marveled at the phrase, “So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water.” Peter was on the verge of being a miracle, but he doubted. Fortunately, he did have enough faith in his Master to believe that he could save him from death. Do I, do you, do we have enough faith to actually believe Jesus will save us? I know that many of us do, and we have that faith because we, too, were on the verge of being a miracle when we realized we couldn’t handle it and asked Jesus to save us. What did it take?

For some of us it was a twelve-step program. For others it was time in the box with a Priest acknowledging our sincere contrition and commitment  to successful repentance. Others still might have been in a near-death situation like a serious accident or a deeply personal loss. I want to share with you something that made me change. In 2222AFC060322 – Who ya gonna call?, I told you about the time I nearly died and instead made a wonderful friend in the Holy Spirit. That whole months-long episode began with an examination of conscience that went profoundly deeper than I had ever gone before. I asked the Holy Spirit to come into my heart and clean out all the trash there. As I prayed, watched, and listened, the Holy Spirit helped me speak, hear, pray, and profess the truth – it was a mess in there!

Honestly, it is still pretty messy, and I don’t show up in the box often enough to keep it presentable for My Lord. Yet, I have not forgotten this: In 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul tells Timothy, “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed (↔ Music Link) and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” I know with absolute, joyful, expectant confidence that there is a place for me, and for you, and for everyone who enters in through The Way given to us by God’s Only Begotten Son. When we reach up in desperate fear of drowning in our own mess, Jesus reaches out and pulls us away from danger and then – guess what! The storm subsides, the wind dies down, and the waves of sin and regret disappear. He hears us always. Do we hear him? What will it take to do that?

In “The Bible According to Otto Preminger” (← Check it out!), God speaks with a thundering, deep bass voice. It’s not always like that. Take Elijah’s experience for example.

Elijah’s flight.

After traveling 40 days and 40 nights from Jezreel to Mt Sinai to escape the vengeance of Jezebel, he climbs up mount Horeb (aka Sinai). God tells him “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by.” Then all manner of things happen that Hollywood loves to hype – hurricane winds, earthquakes, fire – but God was not in any of these. The special-effects ended and there was a nearly-silent whispering sound. At that, Elijah covered his face and went to the mouth of the cave to meet God. He was in for a surprise – as is anyone who steps out to see God – as God said to him “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah says he’s running to save his life. God tells him to get up and go back North up to Damascus where he will crown a man to be King of Aram, another man as King of Israel, and finally to anoint Elisha as his successor. That was Elijah’s retirement assignment. Later, Elijah would be caught up into Heaven in a fiery chariot that swung low (↔ Music Link) to pick him up. Elijah lived in and for God and always provided a testimony to the mighty power of God.

When we live out our lives as servants of the Lord, we find that he is able to handle whatever it is we think we cannot share with him. How silly of us to think that he won’t clear away the messes we make, just so that he can draw us closer to him! When we Walk By Faith(↔ Music Link), we end up walking with The Man From Galilee (↔ Music Link) – even if he is walking on the water! Peter started to sink because he was afraid, and because he thought he could walk on the water of his own volition. Once again, we have to say, he forgot to Be not afraid (↔ Music Link) Whenever God Acts to restore us – that is, to bring us closer to him – his steadfast love and faithful promise will open the way for righteousness and peace to be present to us even after we have banished them from our thoughts and our hearts. We are reminded of Isaiah 32:17 –
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. This is also reflected in Isaiah 30:15-a –
15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. This inspiring notion is also found in Psalm 103:1-5 (← Check it out!). Those who fail to bless the Lord, those who appear to be walking in the Lord’s way but are actually following their own concupiscence are earning for themselves A Hellacious Outcome (↔ Learning Link) which is not only avoidable, but also permanent. (YOLO-F) “Forget not all his benefits,” isn’t just some slogan for the T-vangelists. It is the most-righteous way to stay close to God – to keep that attitude of gratitude that he appreciates because he put it into us in the first place. Please put this chorus into your background-music collection – you know, the one that sticks a tune in your head that plays all day. It’s called Thank you Lord (↔ Music Link). Here’s another easy exercise for this coming week.

Please take 2 minutes and read this beautiful passage in Deuteronomy 7:8-13. You will find this instructive because it contains all we need to know about God’s expectations and the results of accepting or rejecting him. This weekend when you hear about The Apostle Peter and his misadventure on the Sea of Galilee, remember that it is OK to step out in faith, but if we do, we have to keep going like Elijah did – and often with little preparation other than what God provides for us. We cannot forget that it is always enough to finish whatever he asks of us and all that happens to us. “My Grace is sufficient for you.” Sometimes his Grace includes a sponsor, a friend, a pastor, a confessor, or just a good, long talk with the Holy Spirit. Set aside a specific time to – as in make an appointment for – meet with God for a Sweet Hour of Prayer (↔ Music Link) and make it daily. After all, if God is with us and we are with God, then we know what it will take to meet him in his Sweet Sacrament Divine  (↔ Music Link) the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever.  Amen.

What will it take to make God preeminent in our lives? (↔ Learning Link). If we’ve been using our B.I.B.L.E., then we know he expects nothing less than HIS preeminence in our lives.

Neither should we!

And now, May the God of Peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Maran atha! Marana tha!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

 

Aloha Friday Message – August 4, 2023 – The Way Out

August 4, 2023

2331AFC080423 – The Way Out

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Daniel 7:14 –
14 To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.

Psalm 97:9 –
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

2 Peter 1:16-17 – 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved,[a] with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 17:1-3 – 1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him. This coming Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. An account of this event is in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and each account varies slightly from the others. Today we will look into this event and mention some things that sort of slide right by when we listen to this chronicle from the life of Jesus. We’ll use the core questions of journalism – where, why, who, when, what, how – along the way.

Where did the transfiguration happen? The best answer is we don’t know for certain;  but, there are two locations which fit the description in the Gospels. The location with the oldest tradition is Mount Tabor. It’s a fairly low mountain – only about 1,800 ft – but it stands alone on the plain of Esdraelon near Nazareth. It was an important landmark on a trade route called The Way of the Sea at the western edge of the Jezreel Valley. Though not very tall, it provided a panoramic view of the surrounding lands. Another location frequently cited by scholars is Mount Hermon. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, we read “he took them (Peter, James, and John) up a high mountain.” Mount Hermon is around 9,232 feet in elevation, so that certainly qualifies as higher than Mount Tabor. Ultimately we’re not sure where the event actually took place; what is important is that it did happen and it has many lessons to teach us.

Why was Jesus transfigured? And what does that mean anyway? Perhaps another word will help: Transformed. He was, as we say, “robed in Glory.” As the Psalmist said in our second Key Verse, “For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth.” His face and body radiated the Sh’khinah Glory (← Check it out!) of El Shaddai-Olam. He looked very much like the Ancient One and the Son of Man in Daniel’s vision in the 7th Chapter of the Book of Daniel. He was transfigured in a way that demonstrated his Holiness as the Only Begotten Son. His transfiguration was the final preparation for his next pathway – the Road to Golgotha.

Who was with Jesus when this event occurred? We see in all three Gospel that the Apostles Peter, James, and John went with him. These three men had disclosed their willingness to be martyred for the Kingdom. Jesus shared this essential moment in his life to help strengthen them for what was just days away. But there were other persons there, too. Moses and Elijah appeared alongside him and they, too, were radiating the Glory of Eternity. They represent the Law and the Prophets, and with Jesus in the center, all met together, in, and with him. Can you recall who else was there? Yes! The Holy Trinity! St. Thomas Aquinas has said, “The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining  cloud.” All of this was a bit much for The Apostle Peter. He and his comrades fell to the ground and hid their faces.

After they sneaked a peek, The Apostle Peter suggests they build three “booths,” (it was the Festival of Sukkot ← click link for details) one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Then they really had a “come to Jesus moment.” A shining cloud came over them and a booming voice from within the cloud said, “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED; LISTEN TO HIM.” Jesus then led them back down the mountain and told them not to disclose this event to anyone “until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

When did all this happen? If we consult a parallel Gospels example (← Check it out!), we see that Matthew and Mark say, “six days later,” and Luke says “about eight days later.” Later than what? This event takes place right after Jesus was in the region of Caesarea Philippi. It occurs right after Jesus asks the Disciples “Who do they say that I am?” It is right at the point in Jesus’ life that he begins telling them about his true Mission: He will undergo tremendous suffering, be killed, and be raised to life three days later. (See Matthew 16:21-23) In that conversation, The Apostle Peter comes forward and declares they believe he is the Messiah. How right he was! Just “around a week later,” we’ll say, Peter is standing in the presence of the Messiah, the Law and the Prophets, the Holy Trinity, and the Sons of Thunder.

What were Jesus, Moses, and Elijah discussing? We only have a statement in Matthew and Mark that the three were speaking to one another. In the Gospel of Luke, however, we have some additional – and very revealing – information. Here’s the passage: Luke 9:28-31 – 28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. This is very important information, and once again we’re going to turn to the original Greek to help clarify why it is good to know.

What is meant by “his departure?” The Greek word used here is – ἔξοδον exodon from ἔξοδος (exodos) {ex’-od-os}. Does that look familiar – a bit like exodus? Yes, Jesus was preparing for his Exodus from his life of ministry to his Life of Salvation. You’ll recall that after he left the area of Damascus, he “set his face resolutely toward Jerusalem.” Now he has ascended a high and holy mountain with three well-trusted disciples and shown forth the Glory of his heritage as the Only Begotten Son of God. His departure from this world will be agonizing for him and all who Love him. Ah, but the Joy that awaits them in The Promise! Even now, more and more is being revealed by God about the Absolutely Perfect Plan he has been unfolding for millennia. At the center of that plan is God’s original intention for the earthlings he created – Eternal Life with HIM – YOLO-F.

How did The Transfiguration affect Peter, James, and John, The Sons of Zebedee? James was executed by Herod Agrippa – the first Apostle to be martyred. John, the Belovéd Disciple, is thought to have been the youngest. After the Assumption of Mary, he relocated to the region of Ephesus where he was the Bishop over the church founded there by The Apostle Paul. It is believed he was in Ephesus when he wrote the three epistles credited to him. He is also credited with the narrative Gospel of John and The Revelation of Jesus Christ (often misnamed “Revelations”). Peter, as the Bishop of Rome, was eventually crucified upside down by the Romans. The Transfiguration affected him immensely throughout his life. As he neared the end of his life, he said this in our Key Verse from 2 Peter: 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Peter’s time was near, yet he still wrote and spoke encouragingly to his parishioners. He who had seen the Light of Christ on the mountaintop knew that such Glory awaits all who profess the name of Jesus. Just up the page from that quote is this: 2 Peter 1:12-15 – 12 Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, 14 since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure (exodon) you may be able at any time to recall these things. Dearly Belovéd, let us all pray that The Transfiguration makes us more and more like the Apostles Peter, James, and John.

Christian Fundamentalist, Christian Evangelical, Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, “Protestant,” Universalist, Mormon, or even just “Religion-Curious,” whatever your particular persuasion, you have been called to hear, and by hearing you are called to faith, and by faith you are called to accept the Gift of Love in Christ Jesus. Did you know you can be the voice through which The Word is heard? It is often said, “Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read.” Beloved, consider making your life an audio-book as well as a pop-up action book. Whatever your calling in Christ, honor the Giver by accepting – and sharing – the Gift of The Living Word. “Now hear ye the Word of the Lord.” He is calling! If you listen, you will hear; if you hear, Faith is just a “yes” away. With The Apostle Peter, I also say, “as long as I am in this body” I will continue to shine a little light on the Word so as to call out in encouragement to all of us on our departure (exodon) homeward. God bless each of you always and all ways. On The Way Out, we remember that we are commanded by God to look toward the Son and LISTEN TO HIM.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!

 Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

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